


The Box

by anastiel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Body Horror, Demon Dean, Gen, Horror, Season/Series 10, Spells & Enchantments
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-10
Updated: 2015-02-10
Packaged: 2018-03-11 10:19:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3323903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anastiel/pseuds/anastiel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One day Dean brings home a box.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Box

One day Dean brings home a box. It's a nondescript box, just black, rectangular, and kinda small, nothing special. He sets it on the bookshelf near the "Mythical Creatures" section of the library.

It just sits there, for weeks. He doesn't touch it or look at it again. Sam asks Dean what it is and if there's anything inside. He receives no clear answer, only a non-committal shrugging of the shoulders and a reply of, "Something important, but if you touch it, I'll kill you."

Needless to say whatever is in the box, it must be pretty important. Cas eyes it with trepidation. It feels off, the box; like there is a strange electricity hovering around it. Sometimes, if he stands close enough, Cas thinks he hears thumping coming from the inside, almost as if there were a little animal jumping around, wanting to be let out.

Despite his curiosity as to the box's contents, he stays away, just like Dean asked.

Dean is different since he brought the box home. He's calmer, and more controlled, carefree almost. He smiles more, laughs and doesn't act like he wants to kill everything in sight. He seems happier, and healthier. Sam and Cas talk about how strange it is. The Mark is still on Dean's arm, angry and red, but it doesn't seem to be affecting him. They are at a loss as to the reason for Dean's transformation. They try not to question it, but the oddness of Dean, and of the box continues to weigh heavy on their minds. 

So, they do what any normal hunters would do, research.

Cas looks for books that have sections on strange black boxes and Sam starts in on the internet, browsing for news articles that have to do with black boxes and cures for The Mark. They come up empty.

Days pass and slowly, like the setting of the sun, Dean changes. It starts slow at first. His smile, that joyful one Sam's known all his life, contorts into a taunting smirk. And Cas, while talking to Dean one day swears that he sees his eyes flash black. But, they must seeing things, Dean's not a demon, and if he were, he would've tried to kill at least one of them already.

The thumping that Cas noticed a week ago, gets louder, and more pronounced. And whatever the thing is that's moving around on the inside, has grown. With each thump its size pushes up against the top of the box, bending the lid, which creaks eerily under the pressure.

Dean notices none of this. He drinks a lot, jokes around with Sam and Cas. Then one night, he just up and leaves. He doesn't take a bag, doesn't say where he's going, just heads out into the night, the bunker door clanging shut behind him.

He leaves the box.

The moment he's gone Sam and Cas race to the box, hands fumbling with it, trying to pry off the lid. If they can get it open now and discover the mystery of what's inside before Dean returns, maybe they can find a way to get back to normal. But the lid won't move; it's stuck, locked into place. There's a keyhole on the backside in the shape of an arrow, pointed and jagged. Sam runs to Dean's room and searches for the key; he finds nothing.

They leave the box and it's thumping alone.

Dean returns a few hours later, slightly drunk. Sam figures if ever there was a time to ask Dean about the box, now would be it.

"Hey Dean, your uh... your box was making some weird noises earlier."

Dean grins blearily at him in his drunken haze, "My box, it's fine. Leave it alone."

"Well, it keeps moving, what's inside it?"

Dean chuckles then, cold and menacing, "Nothing. It doesn't matter, what's done is done."

"What's done?" Cas asks, "Dean, what have you done?"

Dean waves him off, "Nothing bad, nothing demonic if that's what you're wondering. It's good okay, I'm good. You're safe from mean ol' demon Dean."

"Safe?" Sam questions, "What are you talking about?"

"Doesn't matter, what matters is that you're safe," Dean mutters, wobbling towards the doorway, "I'm gonna sleep now. Don't touch my box."

He lumbers up the stairs towards his room to sleep.

Sam and Cas, resilient despite all of Dean's protestations, formulate a plan. The key has to be here somewhere, presumably on Dean's person. They'll just have to find a way to get it off of him so they can open the box and see what is inside. Most likely, despite being drunk, Dean probably changed at least part of his clothes before he collapsed into bed. The key might be in a pocket, so that's where they'll check first.

Cas elects to be the one to go up there. He can still mojo himself into Dean's room without waking him up, hopefully. It's a delicate process, but once inside Cas searches around on the darkened floor for Dean's discarded clothing. He finds his jacket first and looks through the pockets. Nothing. His jeans are lying a few feet away and Cas instantly digs through those. In the back pocket there is a lumpy shape, he pulls it out. It's a key.

As carefully as he can, he slips out of Dean's room and rushes to Sam. The key fits in the lock perfectly, they turn the handle, which screeches loudly in protest and the lid of the box pops open.

Inside is a heart, split right down the middle into two halves. It's pumping, thudding loudly against the sides of its container and spewing out a small stream of blood which pools on the bottom of the box, sticky and bright red. Sam and Cas just stare at it for a minute, not knowing what to say. They don't dare touch it.

"What the he-" Sam breathes.

"You opened it."

Sam and Cas jump, turning to see Dean, glowering at them near the doorway.

"I told you not to open it."

"Whose is it?" Sam asks, hand hovering a few inches above the pumping organ.

"Don't touch it!" Dean yells, and Sam's hand jolts away as if burned. "You can't touch it, either of you... Or else..."

"Or else what?" Cas asks.

Dean shifts his eyes to the ground, then looks up at Sam and Cas.

"I did a spell. I knew... I knew what I was turning into, who I was becoming. I kept having these thoughts, about killing you, both of you. I couldn't take it anymore so I found a fix, a protection spell. It required that I rip out my heart, and cut it in half. I said a series of incantations assigning each of your names to a halve of my heart so that when I lost control again, I would no longer have the desire to kill you. I protected you. So, you should be grateful, you're safe from me now."

"Dean," Sam chokes out, shaking his head, "You didn't have to do it like this, we could've found another way."

"No. This was the only way. I was going to put you guys in danger again. I'd rather kill myself than reach that point."

Cas takes a step towards Dean, "Dean, please, we can still fix this."

"It's done. All you two have to do it close the lid of the box and never, ever touch my heart, cause if you do, the spell will be broken."

"But Dean!" Sam protests.

"No, Sam, you don't understand what it was like. I kept having dreams, every goddamn night of how I was going to kill you! And it wasn't all neat and rosy, it was awful; blood, guts and stringy intestines. Everything. I woke up crying so many times I lost count, so don't you dare look at me like you're disappointed. I did what I had to do to keep you two safe."

Dean glares at them, daring Sam and Cas to challenge him. He did this for them after all, to keep them safe. It may not be the best method, but at least it works and now he can't hurt them.

"Fine," Sam consents. "I get it, you know. And I'm sure Cas does too, but this? This isn't how we fix things, Dean. You ripped out your own heart just to keep us safe, doesn't that seem a little... extreme."

"I did what I had to," Dean bites out, fist clenching at his side. "And I'm done talking about this. It's done and there's nothing you can do to stop it, so just drop it okay?"

Sam holds up his hands, "Okay."

"You too, Cas."

"If you say so," Cas replies.

"I say so. Now leave me alone."

Dean shoots them one last glance and then he's gone, headed back to his room in an angry rush.

"He expects us to give up," Cas states, watching Dean's retreating figure down the dark hallway. "But we won't will we?"

"Hell no."

 


End file.
